Tow Ball drop tongue.

[UBZ]

After lifting the truck and the rear bar ,my tow ball and tongue are far to high for normal towing purposes.

Its a Hayman Resse receiver type bar

I would like to buy new , fabricate or modify my existing tongue, so I can tow on the road and remove the tongue for off road use.

Can anyone enlighten me in regards to any regulations / recommendations involved in doing this. or know of a good person / company to talk to?

[Smurf]

I have made up a removable tow bar on my surf for the same reason. If your towing hitch/tongue is removable you can mod it yourself , It doesn't need to be attached to your tow bar at WOF time it you think it may raise eyebrows. Can post pics of mine if you like

[UBZ]

Can anyone tell me what the correct tow ball height is off the ground?

[KiwiBacon]

Can anyone tell me what the correct tow ball height is off the ground?

400-450mm to the top of the tongue.

Believe it or not the only standards regarding towbars on light private vehicles are voluntary. Of course if it's super-dodgy the WOF guy will probably say something about it.
That said, one of the main tests for the heavy vehicle towbars is being able to take the whole weight of the trailer pushing forwards at an angle with I think 85MPa max stress. Basically safety factor of 3 on yield (bending).
So a towbar for a 2 ton trailer should take a minimum 6 ton shunt to bend it.

I think the intention is, if you hit something, the towbar has to be strong enough to not let go.

[rayndeb]

i just made my own towbar and went to blackwells engineering to get the tounge made.. none of my engineers would touch it saying it had to be certed..which it doesnt for private use only taxis and commercial users do.. the blackwells guy was checking out my tow bar and commented on the good design and quality workmanship..The toungue is costing me 100 dollars including ball so for that price why would you do it yourself.. i wanted to have that part made since it will be taking some weight around the farm..pics to come